CIRCUITS: REPORTERS' NOTEBOOK; TiVo's New Tack

By BRAD STONE

Published: January 11, 2007

TiVo is a company that many adore -- especially those who like an underdog. In 1997 it popularized the digital video recorder, or DVR, which lets you pause live TV and fast-forward through the ads. A decade later, it is floundering in the face of generic copycats and the reluctance of many cable and satellite customers to have a second box.

But there was hope for TiVo fans at C.E.S. After nearly a year of development, the company announced that it had finished tailoring its famously user-friendly service for the set-top boxes of the cable giant Comcast -- the fruits of a partnership announced last spring.

This year, Comcast customers will be offered the ability to download TiVo onto their existing box (no visit necessary from the cable guy). A monthly fee has not been announced, but a Comcast representative said it would offer TiVo as a premium alternative to its current generic DVR, which it leases for $11.95 a month.

The news could not come at a better time for TiVo. It announced a similar deal with Cox last August, and TiVo's chief executive, Tom Rogers, said the company was in ''deep discussions'' with other cable operators. But ''a lot of people weren't sure technically that this could be done,'' Mr. Rogers said, and getting TiVo to work on a cable company's equipment ''was a real piece of engineering magic.''

TiVo does not yet have clear skies ahead. Of its 4.4 million subscribers, 2.9 million signed up through DirecTV, in a partnership canceled before the News Corporation agreed to sell DirecTV to Liberty Media.

Last fall, TiVo also began selling a box compatible with high-definition video. But it sells for $799 and appeals only to enthusiasts. To live up to the hopes of its fans, TiVo's future lies in the land of cable. BRAD STONE